Monday, November 23, 2009

A day on the farm 11.23.09

With the snow this morning and it looking like it was going to stay, my husband finally conceded that "Fall work" was officially over and he could unhook the tile plow from the tractor and move the equipment into the storage shed for winter. Before the snow falls, there are always outdoor projects that can be done, weather permitting. Just last week brother in law, Jay was putting in some tile lines in one of the fields close to our house. The tile lines help channel water in soggy ground areas that show up in the Spring to dry out so it can be seeded with a crop. Regular field maintenance is a never ending process and because of diligent tending it helps the farmer in the end. Sort of like keeping up on the maintenance with a vehicle or home, not the most exciting, but necessary.

With Joe and Jay officially out of the fields, they focus their time in the farm shop. Days are spent fixing, repairing, or doing maintenance on the equipment. The winter time months are a more relaxed work mode after a busy Spring, Summer and Fall schedule. A welcome time to work just a 40 hour work week as we do not have livestock to tend. Winter on the farm also means this is a time for farm related meetings. Joe was recently elected onto the Idaho Grain Growers Association (IGPA) board and many of meetings are geared to the winter months. Last month was a joint meeting between IGPA and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) held in Salt Lake City.

As for me, I've been working almost every spare moment on a "project house". Some farm land that is across from our home, and in which we have farmed over 27 years, came up for sale and it contained a house. We purchased it on 10/27/09 and almost all of my waking hours since then have been focused on fixing the house up. While Joe admittedly does not like household fixing up projects, I relish them. So this was truly a bucket list dream come true. It was a perfect house for me to work on - it's newer (built in the 1950's), sturdy and well built, but it had lacked good maintenance & upkeep for several years. My goal is to fix it up as soon as possible to get it on the market to sell. Home Depot, Moscow Building Supply and Columbia Paint Store have been my favorite haunts now. I comb the isles, talk to the clerks and am learning how to fix drywall as well as what paints to use and in what rooms. I have an arsenal of tools that I use and have been enjoying the freedom to be a little creative and put a little zest into fixing the place up. It has become addictive to say the least. All of my time spent watching HGTV on fixing up houses for resale have been hours well spent. I am on a first name basis with Grant at the paint store and several gallons of paint later; the house is evolving out of dull, dreary and ugly to fashionable and contemporary (hopefully the prospective buyers will think so too!)

I've spent so much time at my project house, that I think my husband bought me a new laptop computer to try to lure me to stay home a little bit more. =) He commented that I had not blogged in a while. So thought I'd post what I was doing. I've been taking before and after shots. So stay tuned!

On the recipe side- while attending the Salt Lake City meetings with Joe last month, I did score a really yummy pumpkin dip. It was a catered dinner at one of the director's homes and the caterer gave me the recipe. The pumpkin dip was served in a hollowed out pumpkin and served with apple slices. I literally could not stay out of it. So try this for your Thanksgiving gathering.

Pumpkin Dip

15 oz canned pumpkin

2 cups powdered sugar

8 oz softened cream cheese

½ tsp cinnamon

Beat cream cheese till creamy, add in pumpkin, pwd sugar and cinnamon. Mix well and serve with apple slices.

Enjoy!

P.S. thanks to all who read this, and please feel free to comment on what you like or ways to make this blog better. G